Did Lindsay Lohan Torpedo Glee's Ratings?

Washington, D.C. (May 17, 2012) -- Glee has employed stunt casting often during its three-season run, featuring such stars as Gwyneth Paltrow to Ricky Martin to Britney Spears. But last Tuesday's episode starring Lindsay Lohan as herself may have been a case of going to the well once too often.

The Lohan show, which aired at 9 p.m., suffered a seven percent ratings decline from Glee's episode the previous week, capturing just six million viewers. The 8 p.m. episode of Glee, which did not feature Lohan, combined with the 9 p.m. Lohan episode left the Fox network fourth in total viewers for the night.

By comparison, ABC's Cougar Town also suffered a ratings dip on Tuesday, but the network was still third in ratings among the five major broadcast networks. CBS finished first for the night thanks to a strong showing for the season finale of NCIS while NBC was second.

Why didn't Lohan, a tabloid TV staple, lead Glee and Fox to better ratings? One could speculate that the mercurial actress is more a media favorite than a fan favorite. Due largely to her troubled personal life, Lohan has worked sparingly in recent years and that could have dampened interest in her appearance on Glee._____________________________________________________________________________

Phillip Swann is president and publisher of TVPredictions.com. He has been quoted in dozens of publications and broadcast outlets, including CNN, Fox News, Inside Edition, The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Chicago Tribune, The Financial Times, The Associated Press and The Hollywood Reporter. He can be reached at swann@tvpredictions.com or at 703-505-3064.

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